


Six

by Orinoco_II



Series: Codas [5]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Coffee, Episode: s02e02 Sleeper, Flirting, Flirting with coffee, M/M, Missing Scene, Pre-Episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 16:34:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14898096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orinoco_II/pseuds/Orinoco_II
Summary: “I was supposed to be taking you on a date,” Jack says.  Ianto has other ideas.





	Six

It’s late and Ianto’s still working, meticulously making his way through the chaos that calls itself the Torchwood Three Archives. He needed something after Lisa died; some project to throw his energies into. When heavy drinking didn’t work out, he turned to filing instead. After Jack left, the project ramped up to the point of obsession. Over the past three months, he’s cleared more shelves than in the whole of the previous year.

Jacket off and sleeves rolled up, he sorts each file systematically, reading every line and methodically entering the details on his laptop.

“Hey.”

Jack’s voice behind startles him more than it should. He turns to find Jack leaning up against the doorframe, hands in pockets, watching him with an enigmatic smile on his face.

“Hey,” Ianto replies, for some reason frozen in place with a folder in his hand.

Jack looks around at the room. “It’s looking good in here,” he says, the tone of his voice suggesting he’s impressed.

Ianto shrugs – casual - like he’s not glowing inside at the compliment. “Thanks.”

“You know it’s ten o’clock, right?” Jack tells him. “I thought everyone had gone home but then I started picking up life signs from down here.”

“I was just…” Ianto trails off. There is no reasonable explanation for him to be filing at ten pm.

Jack’s smile softens into something more readable. “You need a hand?”

Ianto lifts one eyebrow and regards Jack sceptically, finally unfreezing and putting down the file. “Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll be fine.”

Jack laughs infectiously. “You’re having palpitations at the thought of me touching anything in here, aren’t you?”

“You and paperwork have never been the best of friends,” Ianto concedes.

“Too true,” Jack admits. “You want me to get out of your hair and leave you to it?”

“If you could, sir.”

“Don’t work too late,” Jack tells him as he turns to go. “And stop calling me sir!”

“Sorry,” Ianto apologises quickly, calling after him. “I just want to finish this one.”

Half an hour later, Ianto emerges into the upper levels of the Hub. He can see Jack up in his office and loiters awkwardly by the workstations, unsure where he stands with Jack at the moment. They spent the night together after Jack returned but that was four days ago. They don’t seem to be back to rutting against the nearest hard surface whenever they’ve got a spare five minutes but neither has Jack made any move towards taking him on that date.

In the end, Ianto decides to offer coffee. He knows where he is with coffee. Coffee is safe ground. Jack happily accepts and trots down to sit on the sofa whilst Ianto makes it.

“Here we are.” Ianto hands over Jack’s coffee and sits down beside him.

“Thanks.”

They both lean back into the tatty old cushions. Jack stretches one arm along the back of the sofa and cradles his mug against his chest. Ianto wraps both hands around his own, the heat just comfortably warm through the thick china.

There’s a pause, punctuated only by the sound of two men blowing on their coffee and then taking the first tentative sips. Perhaps it’s a good thing they’re not on a date, Ianto thinks, if they haven’t got anything to talk about. He supposes they never have had a conversation that didn’t revolve around aliens or sex.

It’s Jack who breaks the silence. “When did you get so obsessed with coffee?” he asks.

Ianto swallows his mouthful and thinks about it. “When I was seventeen,” he reveals. “I had a Saturday job in a café for a few months. I got a bit hung up on being the member of staff who made the best coffee. The one that all the customers asked for.”

“Competitive streak, huh?”

Ianto gives a shy smile. “I keep it well hidden.”

“Maybe that’s why you’re so good at everything you do,” Jack suggests. “You always want to be the best.”

“Perhaps.”

“Well, if there’s anything else you want to get competitive over, I’d be happy to _compete_ with you,” Jack says, tongue flicking between his teeth as he says it; eyebrows bobbing upwards.

Just as Ianto’s inwardly lamenting yet another conversation turned to sex, Jack’s expression becomes suddenly serious. The hand that’s been resting along the back of the sofa slides forward and Jack’s fingers gently stroke through the hair at the nape of Ianto’s neck. Ianto sighs as Jack leans forward and kisses him softly. His lips move slowly, almost reverently, like no kiss they’ve ever shared before.

It’s Ianto who deepens it, pushing forward urgently with his tongue, abandoning his coffee cup to let his hands grasp the sides of Jack’s neck. Jack seems to respond and Ianto takes the encouragement as a cue to reach for Jack’s groin.

A deep growl comes from within Jack’s throat as he pulls away, thumping his head back against the sofa cushions. “Dammit,” he groans.

“Not quite the reaction I was hoping for,” Ianto admits, heart thudding as he tries to puzzle out what has just happened.

Jack opens his eyes and turns to look at Ianto. “You’re very kissable Ianto,” he says eventually.

Ianto feels the heat bloom in his cheeks and looks down at his hands. “I wouldn’t know.”

“I was supposed to be taking you on a date,” Jack says. “I promised myself I wouldn’t let _this_.” He gestures between them. “Happen again before I did.”

Ianto smiles. “I appreciate the sentiment,” he says. “But can we call it an IOU?” He grabs Jack’s hand and places it over the bulge in his trousers.

“Fine,” Jack relents, sighing. “But the least I can do is make it classier than a shag on the sofa.” He leaps to his feet and holds out his hand, a wide inviting smile on his face. “Come to bed?”

Ianto takes Jack’s hand - unfamiliar and strangely intimate - and lets him lead him up the stairs and down into the bunker under his office.


End file.
